Magic vs. Manylegs

With an irritated click of her tongue, Singe pulled a pair of large goggles down over her eyes.

Ahead of them, Tong and Linly were already doing the same, their goggle straps fluttering wildly.

The strong wind howled relentlessly in Hermann’s ears as he clung tensely to Singe’s boots, his heart racing.

“Hey!” she snapped. “Stop pulling at my legs! It’s hard enough keeping this thing steady with your extra weight. These discs aren’t made for two.”

Hermann lifted his head just as they flew through another bank of clouds.

“Where exactly do you expect me to hold on, then?” he shouted over the wind.

Singe’s hand struck his face at once, snapping his head back down.

“I told you, don’t look up!”

Her stance wavered for a fraction of a second, her legs trembling beneath her.

She tugged sharply at her torn shorts, trying to cover the blue-and-white fabric underneath.

“Damn crawler acid. Another uniform ruined...” she muttered.

After a while, they broke through the last layer of clouds, and the dusty plain below came back into view. 

Tong and Linly descended first, their discs lowering in smooth, practiced arcs near the edge of the dead forest.

Singe’s landing was rougher. The disc lurched as it touched down, nearly throwing her forward when Hermann dropped off.

“What a nuisance…” she hissed under her breath.

Hermann walked slowly across the plain until the toe of his boot brushed against a dark, brittle stain in the dust.

Dried blood.

This is where it happened. Where I lay.

I should be dead…

He cast a brief glance at Singe, who was hovering among the scattered machine parts with the others.

So they really healed me with magic? 

“Looks like they dragged it off,” Tong said, squatting low on her disc, idly turning a bent screw between her fingers.

Hermann frowned.

“Where would they take it?”

“To their tunnels, obviously. That’s where they drag everything…” she replied dryly.

She rose, the air beneath her disc flickering orange.

“Well. That’s that, then...”

“Wait,” Singe cut in, pointing toward the forest where a trail cut through the undergrowth.

“It's not yet underground,” she said quietly. “We can still catch it.“

Linly’s face paled.

“Y-you can’t be serious. We’re already too close to their nest. We should leave...”

“Just think about it!” Singe snapped, gliding closer. “This is our chance. If we recover that machine, they might move us to the Recces!”

Tong and Linly exchanged skeptical glances.

“But... what about the Manylegs?”

Singe closed her eyes and held her palm toward the forest.

A greenish light curled around her fingers like mist.

When her eyes opened again, she smiled.

“I detect just one Blackplain-Isopod. Probably the same one I fought earlier. And a handful of young.”

Her smile widened.

“We can take it.”

Tong exhaled slowly.

“You really don’t give up, do you? Fine. Guess we’re doing this.”

“I really don’t think this is a good idea!” Linly protested.

But they were already rising.

“H-hey, wait!” she added hastily, following them when she realized her objections were pointless.

But before they set off, Singe hovered beside Hermann.

He was still staring out across the empty plain, his expression distant.

What kind of strange place is this?

I have a feeling that whatever this machine was supposed to do, it probably wasn’t meant to bring anyone here.

I knew that our scientists were working on something big, but I would never have thought of something like this...

“…Move,” Singe said sharply.

He blinked, pulled back into himself.

“What?“

She stood with her arms crossed, watching him.

“Are you deaf? Get on.”

He hesitated.

I really don’t like the way this lass talks to me. Who does she think she is? 

But I guess I don't have much choice if I want to get back home.

With a sigh he obeyed, crouching low and gripping her boots, as the disc surged forward.

They soon caught up with the others, who were flying low beneath the canopy.

“There!” Tong called as she spotted something.

“Formation!” Singe barked immediately.

The three girls lowered their goggles almost in unison as they broke into motion, curving downward in a spiral.

In a barren clearing in the middle of the forest, the black chitinous shell of the Manyleg shimmered.

Hermann blinked as he saw it.

“My God…” he breathed.

It was dragging the wreckage toward a massive pit yawning open in the center of the clearing.

A nauseating stench of rot and decay rose from the pit.

Suddenly, the Manyleg stopped moving.

A single chirp.

Then many.

The chirping swelled into a jagged chorus as smaller shapes shifted and crawled around it.

“It noticed us!“ Linly shouted.

Singe veered toward a thick branch near the crown of a tree, casting Hermann a serious glance.

“Off.”

“And you? What are you going to do?” Hermann asked, confused, as he climbed onto the branch.

She looked at him, almost puzzled.

“Fight. What else?” she said simply.

And with that, she shot off, leaving him staring after her in disbelief.

“But... she’s just a girl… “

***

The three of them immediately began circling the arthropod in a coordinated pattern, arms outstretched.

“Now!“ Singe commanded.

Moments later, crackling spheres of energy formed in their hands, then shot forward.

Hermann flinched when he watched their attacks bursting against chitin in violent flashes of color.

“Magic…” Hermann muttered in disbelief, staring down at the clearing.

The Manyleg let out a terrifying shriek as its dark, bristled body began to tremble.

“Here comes the counterattack, get ready!” Singe shouted.

As if on cue, the three broke formation and scattered.

A storm of black spikes tore through the air, hurled from its limbs with brutal force.

But all three dodged the attack with practiced ease, the spikes flying harmlessly past.

“Let’s end this!” Singe called as they repositioned around the Manyleg.

They stretched out their arms again, and soon a circle flared into existence beneath the monster. It was intricate and glowing, its lines constantly shifting.

“Arcane fire!“

A pillar of pure energy erupted upward.

It soared above the treetops, bright, iridescent, and blinding, flooding the entire forest with light.

Hermann shielded his eyes with his arm.

When he could see again, only small piles of ash remained where the young had been crawling.

At the center, the Isopod lay collapsed, limbs drawn in, faint steam rising from its shell.

They really killed it? Incredible.

The girls regrouped, hovering over the carcass.

“Phew, that took quite a bit of magical energy,” Tong said, pushing back her hat and wiping sweat from her forehead.

“Can we please just get out of here now? I-I don’t like this place…” Linly urged.

Singe merely grinned and gestured toward the battered apparatus below.

“Don’t worry. We’ve got what we came for. Once we set up a...”

She stopped mid-sentence.

A faint sound.

Hermann frowned, gripping the branch tighter.

Did that just… move?

The massive black shell lying in the clearing gave a soft, almost inaudible crack, where steam still drifted lazily from its surface. 

Another sound.

A twitch.

Chirping.

Hermann’s eyes grew wide.

“Get clear! NOW!” he shouted.

Too late.

ZIING

Black spikes erupted upward.

One tore straight through Singe’s disc with a splintering crash.

“SINGE!” Tong gasped.

Singe’s breath hitched as it ripped through her shirt and jacket, sliced across the flesh of her chest, and drove deep into her body.

Hermann could only stare in horror, as she plummeted downward along with her splintered disc.

She hit the damp, rotten ground with a heavy thud.

And didn’t move.